“Every generation since Jesus died on the cross
has been sure of Christ’sreturn
during their lifetime.” It may very well be true that each
generation anticipated Jesus’ return,and
well so. However, anticipation and hope alone aren’t what will
facilitate Jesus’ soon return to earth. According to the prophetic
scriptures, Jesus would only return after certain events
unfolded.

In centuries past, those who diligently
studied Scriptures should have understood that the signs (the
events) which were to precede Christ’s return weren’t in place yet.
It would have been a mistake to anticipate Jesus’ return during any
other generation than this, our current generation.

Past generations of Christians may have
believed their own generation to be the one in which Jesus was to
return, but by so doing they had to twist Scripture. The signs that
the prophets of the Old Testament spoke ofand
the signs Jesus Christ spoke of,as
well as many of the writers of the New Testament,pointed
to His Second Advent as being fulfilled at a much later date than
when they wrote those prophecies.

“But thou, O Daniel, shut
up the words, and
seal the book, even to the time of the end:” Daniel 12:4.
Basically the book was sealed until the time of the end. This
generation is seeing those signs come to pass. The knowledge to
understand the prophecies has been delivered to the faithful by way
of God’s Holy Spirit.

Until 1948 most Bible teachers were
searching for alternative interpretations of the scriptures that
contained the signs of the last days. Why?Because
many saw no possibility of
Israel
ever being a nation re-established and living in the land God
promised them. During WWII when so many Jews were slaughtered during
the Holocaust,besides
being a horrible tragedy and a very significant blight on the
humanity of mankind, it must have been terribly disappointing for
prophecy buffs of the time. Six million Jews had just been horribly
eliminated from the face of this earth sohow
could God’s chosen people ever be expected to become a nation once
again?

Today we can look at Scriptures which
foretold of
Israel
being back in their God–given land and see that prophecy was
fulfilled exactly as God said. Israel is a well established nation
powerful, self-governed, with an entrenched foothold in the land God
gave them. But for those Christian denominations who hold to the
erroneous doctrine of replacement theology, this absolutely proven
prophecy is looked upon as a non-event. That’s just blindness.

“For I will take you from among the
heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you
into your own land.” Ezekiel 36:24.

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I
will take the children of Israel from among the heathen,
whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring
them into their own land,” Ezekiel 37:21. “And it
shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and
from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from
the islands of the sea.” Isaiah 11:11. This verse tells
us there will be a re-gathering and return of the Jews back to the
covenant land God established specifically for the Jewish people.Clearly
God’s end time plans were predicated on
Israel
returning to their promised land.

Along with Isaiah, Ezekiel, andJeremiah,
we have all the Minor Prophets who,even
though they are referred to as minor, contributed major prophetic
insight into the last day’s events. “And I will bring again the
captivity of my people of
Israel,
and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they
shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also
make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon
their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land
which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.” Amos
9:14-15. This is just one of the numerous end timepropheciesthat
are recorded in the books of the so called Minor Prophets. Actually
minor only means shorter in length, not subordinate at all in
regards to importance.

Prophecy has been placed in the Bible by
God to bring us to a deeper understanding of just what the future
history of the world holds. Not only do wediscern
that God’s word is true, but from prophecy, both fulfilled and not
yet fulfilled, we recognize the End Times are yet to come. Yes, we
are living in the End Times and have been since Jesus died on that
cross, but our currentgeneration
is the generation that is living in the very last days of the End
Times.

Even though we can’t help being concerned
about Israel and the fact that they are surrounded by their enemies
– enemies bent on their total destruction – God has promised Israel
that they will never again be pulled out of their land. God’s
mighty hand is covering Israel and that’s a fact we witness
every day. Their enemies will never be successful in their attempts
to wipe Israel off the
map.

It should come as no surprise that even
though the Hamas terrorists lobrocket
after rocket into Israel, year in
and year out, the destruction of property and the taking of innocent
Israelis lives is quite minimal. The taking of an innocent life is
tragic under any circumstance,but
the very fact that Hamas has launched literally thousands of rockets
into the land where God’s people dwell with hardly any effect should
give all people pause. We must come to the conclusion that God’s
people are divinely protected and established where God wants them.

The Old Testament contains many
prophecies which foretold of Jesus’ first advent. They were recorded
many, many years before His birth. These prophecies were missed by
the Scribes and Pharisees. For instance in the Book of Genesis we
were given the first words concerning the Coming of Christ. Speaking
to the serpent, God said, “And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy
head, and thou shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15. Note
that the Coming One was to be of the woman’s seed,which
described the miraculous virgin birth of our Lord. This was written
down thousands of years before He was born.

In order to
deny the undeniable prophecies recorded in scripture, we must
allegorize at least one third of the Bible. On the other hand,if
we take the Bible seriously and allow the word of God to speak to us
we can come to an informedand
correct conclusion of what will transpire as we move ever closer to
Christ’s return and before that,the
snatching away of His Church.

We Christians have, for the most part, no
problem believing in the virgin birth or the fact that Jesus wasborn
in Bethlehem,which
was all foretold of in the Old Testament. However,when
it comes down to understanding prophecy that is directly pointing to
the end of days here on earth and Jesus’ Second Advent that’s just
tooweak, too
hard to grasp, it’s all allegories,
those scriptures have nothing to do with our future. Here’s a news
flash for those who think that way, God authenticates His word by
giving us history lessons in advance. Fulfilled prophecy is obvious
and yet dismissed by many Christian as inconsequential.

The Bible is replete with prophecies both
fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled,all
establishing the undeniable fact that there will be a Rapture of
Christ’s Church and that the saints (believers) will return with our
Lord in His glory at the end of the Tribulation. “Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
Revelation 20:6.

Why is it so difficult for some to gain
an understanding of the end times through prophecy? Because many
Christians today refuse to study their Bibles at all let alone Bible
prophecy. They are completely reliant on their pastors, many of whom
don’t believe in biblical prophecy. Therefore they parrot what they
hear and neglect Bible prophecy altogether.

Paul the Apostle spoke of future events.
Paul didn’t know when the events he taught about would occur anymore
than we do today. But over the past two-thousand years we can see
many prophetic signs that have been fulfilled,and
this generation is witnessing the speedy culmination of prophetic
signs exploding on the scene.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which
God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must
shortly come to pass,” Revelation 1:1. This may very well
be the verse that has tripped up generations of believers in the
past. Just reading the English version of the above verse gives
us the impression these things referred to here by Jesus would
shortly, or soon, come to pass. By carefully analyzing the
original language, we can more clearly understand this verse and
what it actually is saying. It’s the English word “shortly” that’s
the culprit. Translated from the Greek word “tachos”,its
intent isn’t to infer something happening very soon,but
is to show quickness or speed. Our English word tachometer is
derived from this Greek word. Jesus is going to open the eyes of His
servants who study His word to understandthe
signs of the end times, and when these signs begin to come about
they will happen rapidly and speedily. Precisely what we see
happening today.

Jesus Christ will return soon for His Church and that’s
something the enemy doesn’t want people to believe,let
alone dwell on. Satan knows the Rapture will happen and if he can
keep the focus of the Church on the worldly things which entrap
God’s people and re-direct their thoughts and efforts,then
Christians will spend much less time, if any at all, thinking about
or promoting our Heavenly destination. Our enemy would like to see
the Church become just another secular social club totally devoid of
God’s truth, especially prophecy.

There are manyalternative
views floating around for Christians to choose from. Many of which
disparage Bible prophecy. Amillennialism, Preterism, Kingdom now, or
Dominionism, it really is confusing and some of these views are
difficult to understand. When we just allow others to influence us
with their interpretations instead of searching the scriptures for
ourselves we may find ourselves following a view that is basically
unscriptural.

Many believers put little,if
any,reliance in the
Rapture view even though Paul taught that Christ’s Church would be
raptured before the Wrath of God was to come on this
Christ-rejecting world.

Side Note:

Christians have been listening to false
teachers who’ve exchanged God’s word for a lie for years. “For
such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:13. This
manipulation of the saints by deceitful workers has moved Christians
into a pattern of resorting back to worldly ideas and concepts.
About 90% of all Christians no longer hold a Christian world view.
They look, sound, and act just like the earth dwellers
(non-believers) of this planet, opposedto
true, born again believers, who are just sojourners here. That
leaves only a remnant of Christians with a genuine Christian world
view.

Prophecy is being fulfilled right in
front of our eyes; signs are coming to pass. The end of all time is
upon us. Secular scientists also
speculate the end of planet earth will come, but not for another
billion years or so. God says that event will be much sooner, in
fact Bible prophecy tells us it’s at the door.

Still, one question remains.
When we take God’s word seriously and truthfully where does that
leave the unbeliever? The unbeliever is already condemned. So they
will only be affected by the Rapture in an adverse way. When the
“caught up” happens they willbe
left on planet earth scratching their heads in bewilderment at the
instantaneous disappearance of millions.Will
any of your family or friends be stuck in that mode of bewilderment?